Watching our Canadian
Olympic heroes return home after their outstanding performances in Torino, it
was hard not to feel a surge of nationalistic pride. Those sweet faced, peace
loving Canadians proved that nice guys (and girls) donÕt have to finish
last.About the only criticism
that seemed to surface about Team CanadaÕs medal-winning efforts was that our
womenÕs hockey team didnÕt have to trounce their opponents with such vigor. As
the poster children for world peace, it seemed a little out of character to
take such joy in flattening the opposition.

At least thatÕs what weÕd
like to believe. But while most Canadians were busy reveling in our victories
on the playing fields, our politicians were busy gearing up for a very different
kind of international confrontation on the killing fields. The result of which
was made evident last weekend by another, very different heroes' homecoming.
Rather than the waving of Canadian flags, we witnessed the solemn draping of
flags over the coffins of two Canadians soldiers killed in Afghanistan. The
shocking pictures of the axe attack on Captain Greene further rattled our
gentle peace loving souls.

These are images unfamiliar
to Canadians. Since the Korean conflict, our role on the international stage
has been one of peacekeeper. In recent years we have even jeopardized our
friendship with the US to maintain this position. When George W. Bush called
upon Canada to join the Ņwar on terrorÓ, Jean Chrˇtien's response was typically
Canadian – a very firm but polite, ŅNo.Ó

Which is why is it a shock
to most Canadians to discover that we are at war. And while it would be easy to
blame Prime Minister Harper for our sudden shift in status, the transition
began more than a year ago when our peacekeepers in Kabul became peacemakers in
Kandahar. Since then, our commitment, both in numbers and in level of danger,
has increased dramatically to the point where earlier this week Canadian troops
took the helm of the international forces in Kandahar.

"When we went to war
everybody knew it," said one World War II veteran in response to the
latest news headlines. "I don't think the vast majority of Canadians even
realize that we've had a major shift in government policy."That's probably because nobody bothered
to ask.

Since the deed has already
been done, Defence Minister Gordon O'Connor has rejected the idea of a
parliamentary vote on our increasing involvement in Afghanistan. However, in
recent days he has appeared to be willing to enter into a debate in the House
of Commons.

It was reported last week
that the military has asked the government for the right to cancel any leave or
separation requests, including termination of employment contracts with any and
all military personnel, in order to fulfill its commitment to Afghanistan,
although as of this writing the Department of National Defence has not been
able to confirm or deny this report.

What we do know for sure is
that our commitment to Afghanistan is the deployment of 2,300 troops until
2007, with some talk about a long-term, ten year commitment to the area. There
is also a decision to increase the total number of military personnel from
68,000 to 75,000.

So what's all this got to do
with the environment? Plenty! Not being at war would definitely be on my short
list of what constitutes a healthy environment.

Wake up, Canada! It's time
that we all gave our heads a collective shake and started demanding answers to
some very serious questions. For starters, we need a broad public debate on
foreign policy. If we're going to be at war, at the very least, somebody should
tell us. Better yet, since we still live in a democracy (or least I thought we
did), shouldn't the government be asking the Canadian public if this is the
direction we want to head?

Secondly, rather than
investing billions in the military to safeguard oil interests (including that
supply pipe that conveniently goes right through the centre of Afghanistan),
shouldn't we be looking at investing in renewable oil futures right here in Canada?

Finally, do we really want
to trade our peacekeeper's jerseys for flack jackets?

RELATED WEBSITES

Email your local MP and
demand a public debate on Canada's foreign policy. For an up-to-date listing of
all MPs, visit The Government of Canada